Retailers are combining indoor location tech to get an edge on Apple and iBeacon

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Indoor location technology is a field that is about to explode. There are numerous solutions, like the LED-based ByteLight, but so far iBeacon has taken the lead. Retailers of all sizes have started to investigate the tech, some more deeply than others. LXR&Co, a New York city retailer, is one of roughly 30 companies testing a new location setup that combines multiple technologies to completely overhaul the consumer experience in their brick-and-mortar stores.

Physical storefronts are willing to try just about anything to compete with their online counterparts. As they experiment it’s become clear that it will be of the utmost importance to strike a balance between those customers who want nothing to do with a digital in-store experience and those who are eager to bring their digital selves into the store with them. A combination of technologies has come together to create an all-in-one solution for storefronts, and it’s possible this is the balance needed to deliver value to every customer.

Thirdshelf is a retail app designed for taking a customer’s online shopping experience into the store. This has clear, immediate benefits, like offering customer advertisements and loyalty program rewards. To make the app even more effective, Thirdshelf is working with Estimote to make sure shoppers are targeted based on their physical location inside the store.

Thirdself’s app will offer up the location of the user based on Bluetooth proximity to the beacon, which will in turn allow the store to offer ads and rewards depending on where that person happens to be standing and which products are closest to them.

On top of this location-based experience, Thirdshelf is working with the point-of-sale system LightSpeed to allow employees access both inventory and check out systems from any laptop, tablet, or phone. Functionally, this means a retail employee is able to seamlessly approach a customer, accept a purchase from the middle of the sales floor, and walk that person out of the store with no lines or wasted time. It’s a powerful combination of tools that, depending on how the retailer currently does business, could prove incredibly efficient.

This service was demonstrated in its entirety recently with LXR&Co at the DX3 Canada conference, but the companies responsible for this combined effort are working with as many as 30 other organizations already. These other companies have this same deployment in beta right now, and it is possible that other organizations will deploy something similar soon.

Depending on how pushy Thirdshelf allows its partners to be when it comes to offering ads and alerts to users in store, this could be exactly what most brick-and-mortar outlets have been looking for.